504 road crashes in Sept leave 502 dead and 964 injured: Jatri Kalyan Samity

At least 502 people were killed and 964 injured in 504 road crashes across Bangladesh in September, with motorcycles accounting for nearly 40% of deaths, according to the Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity.

The organisation's accident monitoring cell compiled the data based on reports published in national, regional, and online newspapers, said a press release issued by the welfare association today (14 October).

In addition to road crashes, 50 railway accidents were reported during the month, leaving 46 people dead and three injured. On the waterways, 13 accidents killed 17 people, injured 15, and left three missing.

Altogether, 565 people were killed and 982 injured in 567 transport-related accidents, including road, rail, and waterways, across the country in September.

Meanwhile, the association, in a statement signed by its Secretary General Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, warned that road crashes could double if the interim government goes ahead with plans to legalise and register battery-run auto-rickshaws.

"The plan to register battery-run auto-rickshaws is flawed. If implemented, it will double the number of road accidents in the country," he said.

According to the Samity's report, motorcycles were involved in 191 road accidents, killing 199 people and injuring 188. These accounted for 37.89% of total accidents, 39.64% of total deaths, and 19.50% of injuries.

Dhaka Division recorded the highest number of road crashes –126 – which left 122 dead and 216 injured. Barishal Division had the fewest, with 22 accidents resulting in 27 deaths and 47 injuries.

Among those killed or injured were nine law enforcement members, 133 drivers, 106 pedestrians, 26 transport workers, 65 students, eight teachers, 88 women, 54 children, two freedom fighters, one lawyer, one journalist, one doctor, and 12 political activists.

Of the total fatalities, five were police officers, one was an army member, one a freedom fighter, one a lawyer, one a doctor, 126 were drivers, 102 pedestrians, 67 women, 49 children, 56 students, eight transport workers, eight teachers, and seven political activists.

Vehicles types, accident patterns

A total of 772 vehicles were involved in the reported road crashes. According to the breakdown, 29.01% were motorcycles; 22.02% were trucks, pickups, or covered vans; 16.58% were buses; 12.17% were battery-run rickshaws and easy bikes; 7.38% were CNG-run auto-rickshaws; 7.25% were nasimon, korimon, mahindra, tractors or lagunas; and 5.56% were cars, jeeps, or microbuses.

Nearly half (48.80%) of the crashes involved vehicles running over victims, 28.57% were head-on collisions, 17.85% occurred when vehicles lost control and plunged into ditches, 3.76% were due to miscellaneous causes, 0.39% were caused by scarves being caught in wheels, and 0.59% resulted from train-vehicle collisions.

In terms of location, 45.03% of accidents occurred on national highways, 24% on regional highways, and 25.39% on feeder roads. Dhaka city accounted for 3.96% of all accidents, Chattogram city 0.99%, and rail crossings 0.59%.

Rise in road accidents

The association identified several key reasons for the high number of crashes. 

Some of them are potholes and damaged roads caused by monsoon rains; unregulated movement of motorcycles, battery-run rickshaws, CNGs, and small vehicles on highways; absence of dividers or medians, and roadside trees creating blind turns; and faulty road construction, poor vehicle condition, and disregard for traffic rules.

To prevent further road accidents, Jatri Kalyan Samity also listed 12 recommendations in its report. Some of the recommendations are urgent repair of rain-damaged highways and roads; adequate lighting on national and regional highways for night-time safety; scrapping outdated and unfit public transport vehicles; and training and certification of skilled drivers and digital fitness checks for vehicles.